De-oiled rice bran, often called DORB or rice bran DOC, is what remains after rice bran oil is solvent extracted from the bran. It is a feed ingredient with moderate protein and high fibre, used mainly in cattle feed, with some use in poultry and fish feed.
It is not a high-protein meal like soybean meal. Buyers use it for fibre, energy carried by the remaining nutrients, and bulk in a ration at a lower cost than richer meals.
How it is made
Rice bran is the outer layer removed when brown rice is milled into white rice. Raw bran contains oil and an enzyme, lipase, that starts breaking that oil down soon after milling. The bran turns rancid quickly unless it is stabilised by heat or sent for extraction fast.
The bran goes to a solvent plant, often pelletised first, where most of the oil is removed for refining into rice bran oil. The meal left behind is desolventised, cooled and sold as de-oiled rice bran.
Where it is used
- Cattle and buffalo feed: the main use in India, as a fibre and protein source in compound feed.
- Poultry feed: used at limited inclusion because of its fibre.
- Fish feed: used in some aquaculture feeds, often as a binder and filler.
- Mushroom and other substrates: some lots go to non-feed uses.
What to check
Quality in rice bran meal moves with how much husk got mixed in at the mill, how clean the bran was, and how fresh it was at extraction. Typical figures are for illustration only.
- Crude protein: commonly in the mid teens, but confirm on test.
- Crude fibre: a high figure often means husk was mixed with the bran.
- Sand and silica: rice husk is naturally high in silica, so acid insoluble ash matters more than for most meals. See what moisture and sand/silica limits apply to feed ingredients.
- Moisture and residual oil: both affect storage life.
- Aflatoxin and salmonella, as for any feed ingredient.
Supply and export rules
Rice is milled across many Indian states, and solvent plants in rice-growing areas extract the bran. Supply follows the rice milling season and domestic demand from the dairy feed sector, which is large.
Because feed ingredients affect domestic milk and feed prices, the government has at times restricted exports of some feed items. Such rules are notified by DGFT and can change at short notice. Check the current position with DGFT before you contract, and read how government export bans or restrictions affect supply.
How we help
We locate rice bran solvent plants, check the bran they buy and how fresh it is, and have samples tested for protein, fibre, acid insoluble ash and aflatoxin at an NABL-accredited lab. We also confirm the current export position before you book. Ask for a free sourcing review.